


How to Live Your Best Life in Sunagakure

by YuuTama



Category: Naruto
Genre: Awkward Romance, Civilian OC, Eventually strong OC, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Kazekage Gaara (Naruto), Kekkei Genkai | Bloodline Limit, OC does not know Naruto, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Reincarnation, Romance, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27285685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YuuTama/pseuds/YuuTama
Summary: Mayu was once a social media influencer from LA, until she choked on an almond and died. Now, she is a merchant in the Hidden Village of the Sand. All she wants is to have the life that she was familiar with: nice clothes, nice things, and lots of followers. These things are hard to come by, especially in Sunagakure, but her life takes a sharp turn when she gets involved with the young Kazekage, who seems to know her from somewhere.Mayu (jokingly): Wanna buy me dinner?Gaara: Ok.Mayu: ...Mayu: I need money!Gaara: Come work for me.Mayu: ...Mayu: I need exposure!Gaara: There's the paparazzi.Mayu: ...Mayu: Aren't you going to ask me something?Gaara: Will you be my...Mayu: ???Gaara: Personal advisor.Mayu: ...Ugh.Follow along and see how Mayu learns the meaning and consequences of being famous in the world of ninjas. The first lesson: Think first before you flirt. Why? You might accidentally fall in love.
Relationships: Gaara (Naruto)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 83
Kudos: 242





	1. Always Chase Your Dreams, Even if You Die

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for clicking in to read my silly little fanfic!  
> I am not an influencer in real life and I haven't read/watched Naruto in a while, but had this idea that I've been itching to write! There won't be a whole lot of action since the OFC is a civilian, but knowing me I'm going to make her powerful at some point, haha.  
> I have another Naruto fic that is my main project currently, so updates for this may be slow, but hopefully it'll still be fun to write as I'm having fun writing it!

The atmosphere in the Hidden Sand Village today is, though dry as usual, festive for the first time in a long while. Why? Well, it’s the Inauguration Day of the village’s Fifth Kazekage. Usually, a Kazekage’s Inauguration Day isn’t the biggest deal to civilians like me, but I think they’re making it a real “celebration” this time to help ease the unrest caused by the Fourth Kazekage’s assassination. For the first time in Sunagakure history, there is going to be an all-day celebration in the village square immediately following the inauguration ceremony. 

What does all that have to do with me? Well, any type of festivity is an opportunity to increase sales of my products and boost my annual profits! 

My name is Mayu, and I’m a social media influencer. Oh wait, no, that was me in my previous life. Let’s try this again. My name is Mayu, and I’m a humble merchant in the Hidden Village of the Sand. 

I know that I’m a reincarnated version of myself, and I know this because I remember how I died. It happened when I was mindlessly eating almonds while replying to sponsorship emails in the middle of the night. Yes. I choked to death on almonds. So much for a healthy snack. I knew it was a bad idea to have snacks at midnight, but I was just too hungry and the check for my last sponsored YouTube skincare video wasn’t coming in for another two days! 

Sorry, mom and dad. I know that I insisted on moving out to prove a point that I can take care of myself, but clearly, I was wrong and you guys were right.

I still grieve about this from time to time even though I’ve lived sixteen years as my reincarnated self. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t reincarnate properly and retain your past memories—you retain your past grudges too, even if they’re petty. 

What I also mean by ‘not reincarnate properly’ is that some divine power must have screwed up and reincarnated me into a different universe. 

It was on my first birthday here when I realized that I was in a completely different world. When I regained consciousness, I was a baby in an orphanage. For that first year I had thought that I was in a rural village in Japan, until the housemother took me out of the orphanage for the first time to buy me a birthday cupcake. I thought it was strange at first when Mother Tsubasa wrapped me up in a weird cloak before we headed out, but when I stepped into the blinding sun and scorching sand, it became clear to me. 

The weird climate, the weird clothing, and the mouthful of sand I got when I opened my mouth in shock told me one thing: this is a desert. And I may not be the smartest cookie but I’ve traveled to Japan in my previous life to promote Japanese skincare brands and Japan did not look like this! 

Needless to say, I chose ice cream over a cupcake for my birthday that year. And all years after that.

Besides the fact that it’s a desert, there are other strange things about this world. The fashion here is tasteless, even though I understand the need to cover up due to the climate. I’ve been to Coachella a few times myself to know this. They also don’t have iPhones here or smart technology of any kind, so that was a real bummer, but at least they have TV’s. 

What really scared me about this universe was when one of the older orphan kids got killed during one of his errands. The other kid with him said that a couple of shuriken came out of nowhere and got him in the chest. I later learned that shuriken was what I used to call ninja stars. What the actual fuck? 

After five years of living in that orphanage, I was adopted by a really old woman. She’s supposed to be a big deal, so I’m not sure why she adopted me. I guess I can’t complain because she turned out to have loads of money and has VIP access to Sunagakure’s one and only greenhouse filled with both poisonous and medicinal herbs and plants. 

And that helped me become what I am now, a young and beautiful con art—no, a seller of dietary supplements slash aspiring fashion designer of Sunagakure!

To be a successful saleswoman of dietary supplements, you have to be convincing enough for the generally unwealthy public that is this desert village. Meaning you need to, first of all, look good. Really, really good. And while I could take two SoulCycle classes back to back everyday in my past life, exercise in the world of ninjas is on a different level. If I didn’t have my adoptive grandma teach me martial arts and this chakra thing, I’d never be in such great shape like the other _kunoichi_ in this village. Hence, my target customers are mostly civilians.

As for my face, I guess I look pretty decent, thanks to my birth parents here whom I’ve never met. My features are symmetric and the only complaint I have is these weird red birthmarks on my cheeks, but others don’t seem to think they’re weird. In fact, I’ve seen other people in the village with marks on their faces. I really should count myself lucky because these birthmarks aren’t that bad compared to our new Kazekage’s forehead tattoo.

Now, let’s talk about our new Kazekage, leader of the entire sand village. I’ve seen him in the papers. Gaara, son of the Fourth Kazekage, is currently only fifteen years old and soon to be the youngest Kage the ninja world has ever seen. 

Seriously, the guy’s a year younger than me and already infinitely more successful. Not that I’m jealous or anything; I’m not interested in the works of a _shinobi_ . All I want is to make enough money for my dream lifestyle—fancy clothes, fancy things, and lots of admirers since I can’t get _followers_ here. Then, eventually, travel the world and see my brand expand everywhere, and have young women look up to me for my accomplishments

Basically, becoming the first ever lifestyle guru of the ninja world. Is that too much to ask for? I mean, I don’t really have competition here.

“Hey, Mayu! I heard that after the inauguration, the Kazekage family is going to come down to the square to greet civilian villagers!” 

Kohana, a young crafter of beautiful ceramics who often shares a booth with me, says to me as we set up our products. Many merchants are setting up booths around the village square for this event. The village is really making it big this time; they even waived the rent for reserving a space here. 

“That’s nice of them,” I say nonchalantly but not really meaning it. It just sounds like a publicity thing to me. 

“Yeah, the Kage’s families never used to interact with civilians very much,” Kohana says with an anticipating smile. “I guess because he’s so young, he’s doing things differently?”

Or he’s just trying to change his image. I don’t know much about this Gaara guy, but from the papers, there seemed to be a lot of negative aspects about him. A lot of villagers here even seemed to be afraid of him. I’ve heard a lot of gossip that he’s killed a lot of people, but hey, isn’t that what ninjas do? Anyway, it really has little to do with me.

“Really? That’s great,” I respond to Kohana absentmindedly. I’m focused on the task at hand, which is to set up my products in the most visually appealing way. 

Today is the day that I’m adding my handmade accessories to the table for the first time. Last month, I was able to haggle (flirt) with the precious stones merchant from Iwagakure for some nice gems for a fair price, so I turned them into jewelry. If I learned anything from being an influencer, it’s that you can’t limit yourself to just one type of product. Whether it’s fat burning green tea or designer shoes, I’m going to sell the crap out of them. 

The morning went by in a flash and noon is already upon us, which means the inauguration is over. Noontime in Sunagakure is no joke. It’s so hot that most people would prefer to stay inside. But since everyone knows that the Kazekage family would be coming down soon, the town square is more crowded than usual. 

“‘Miracle Pill?’ What does this do?” A roundish man who happened to stand by my booth asks me when he saw my row of bottled green pills.

“It’s a pill that will help you lose weight! You can drink beer without feeling guilty too!” I give the man a smile and a wink. The man blushes and puts a hand over his beer belly. 

But honestly it’s just really potent green tea leaves that I grounded up and made into a pill. 

“How about this, ‘Monster Energy?’”

“Like the name suggests, it’ll give you so much energy that you can probably do push-ups with your wife sitting on your back!”

Really it’s the same ingredients for Military Rations Pill, just altered a lot for civilian use. 

I’m so glad there’s no such thing as an FDA around here.

“Maybe I’ll buy one of ea—”

“He’s here! Lord Kazekage is here!”

The man in front of my booth turns to the guy shouting in the middle of the square, hand still grabbing for his wallet in his pocket. I send a little glare towards the shouting guy’s direction. I almost made a sale!

“I can’t believe it’s happening!” Kohana exclaims next to me, grabbing my arm and pinching it so hard that I hiss from the pain. I thought ceramic artists were supposed to be soft with their hands!

I look past the guy who lost me a customer toward the Kazekage family, who is now in the middle of the town square. 

The red-haired teenager in the middle of two other younger shinobi is Gaara, our new village leader. I don’t pay too much attention to politics, but it’s hard not to recognize the guy. He has the word ‘love’ tattooed on his forehead! And that’s not the only thing that stands out about his face. Besides the tasteless tattoo, the guy’s got no eyebrows, which are the things I’d personally get tattoos for. And he has these dark, and I mean _dark_ circles around his eyes that resembled early 2000s emo aesthetics only achievable through layers of eyeliner. 

The guy is just a whole mess. But I will admit, his turquoise eyes are rather beautiful.

Wait, how am I seeing his eye color? Is he looking over here?

“Oh my god, he’s coming over!” Kohana squeals as she shakes my arm with excitement. 

I move my gaze from Kohana to the Kazekage family trio who now stands in front of my booth, Gaara right in front of me, looking at my face intently. 

“It’s you,” he says.

I blink at the boy with confusion. Do we know each other? That’s unlikely because I hardly know anyone in this village besides granny and gramps and Kohana. I didn’t go to school so I have a very small social circle, which is actually a good thing when you make a living by scamming people.

Wait a minute, can this prodigal ninja tell that I’m scamming people? Crap, am I gonna be in trouble? Calm down, Mayu, you can talk yourself out of this!

“Yep, it’s me! Sunagakure’s youngest entrepreneur—Sunshine Girl Mayu!” I say with an overly enthusiastic vlogger voice and the friendliest smile I can conjure up. Then I put an amiable hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Looks like we’re both young and successful, aren’t we?”

When I put my hand on Gaara’s shoulder I felt a slight twitch. His lips part a little and he says after a short pause, “You don’t remember me?” 

“Hmm,” I blink at the boy then patted his tense shoulder. “I hardly think there’s a soul out here who doesn’t know you, silly!”

“Hey lady,” the boy with flashy kabuki makeup next to Lord Kazekage gives me a warning look. “Maybe you should show more respect towards your Kazekage.”

“It’s okay, Kankuro,” Gaara says to the guy.

“Oh no, sir, I have the utmost respect for my Lord Kazekage!” I chirp towards the boy named Kankuro. It takes more than harsh words to scare me. I’ve gotten much more hate comments on Instagram than this. I mean, maybe if he had a _shuriken_ pointed at me, but that’s not a good look for inauguration day!

I kneel down to ruffle through my duffel bag. Once I find the stuff I’m looking for, I stand back up and hold both hands out to the young Kazekage in front of me.

Gaara looks at the box in my hands and then at me with a questioning look. 

“A gift to show my loyalty!” I say as I open the box, revealing two stud earrings with red gems in the settings. Nothing like a giveaway to get others to like you! “These are rare garnets I got from Earth Country. They suit your hair, don’t you think? But I see that you have three piercings so I’ll make you another one and have it delivered next time!”

If the papers get photos of the Kazekage wearing my products, it’s going to be a great advertisement opportunity!

The Kazekage takes another pause and looks at me in the eyes. “I cannot accept this.”

“Sure you can!”

“I’ll pay for them…”

“Hey, which school did you go to because they didn’t teach you the word ‘gift!’” I wink at the red haired boy and shoved the box closer to him. 

“Just take it, Gaara,” the blonde girl on the other side of the Kazekage urges him to take my box. “It’s a nice gesture.”

Lord Kazekage finally reaches his hand out, though I can tell that there’s still hesitation in him. I take the chance to take his wrist and turn it so that his palm faces up, and I place the jewelry box in his hand. His eyes widen at my action; I guess it’s a little disrespectful to just grab a village leader’s wrist, but I keep my hold on him. How is this guy’s skin so smooth if he was born and raised in this desert? He must have a skincare secret. I guess I can’t expect any less from someone whose smokey eyes are so on point. 

“Thank you,” he says, looking into my eyes.

My eyes crinkle as I smile at him, this time more genuinely than before. Normally, I’m not too keen on politicians, but this young Kazekage looks like an earnest guy. Although he’s a little quiet, compared to some of the country leaders I’ve seen in my past life who just ran their mouths, I much prefer this one standing in front of me. In fact, his shy behavior makes me want to tease him a little. 

“No need for that, my Lord! If you really want to pay me back, you can take a lady out to dinner next time!” I wink at him again, and start to laugh at my own joke. 

“Okay.”

Huh?

“...Huh?”

My bottom lip is probably hanging open, but I can’t seem to close my mouth no matter how hard I’m trying to channel chakra into my bottom lip. 

“Dinner,” Gaara says matter-of-factly, as if to remind me of what I just said, “...Tomorrow?”

What.

The.

Hell?!

I can see in my peripheral vision that Kohana is freaking out. I want to freak out too, but as a saleswoman I’ve learned to keep my cool. However, it’s really hard to keep cool when it looks like a village leader just asked me out? 

Ladies, think before you flirt. Always. 

All of my past dating experience tells me not to go to dinner with him, but you really should see the look on Gaara’s face right now. He looks like a red panda. Yeah, the endangered animal, at least in my past life. And you just have to understand that whether you’re left or right winged, humans in general loved little animals.

I glance at the blonde and the kabuki actor, who also have their mouths hanging open, and then back at Gaara. His turquoise eyes glisten the moment my eyes meet his. My brain screams no but the word doesn’t travel to my mouth. 

“Um…” I clear my throat. “Sure! How about…Ramen?”

Lord Kazekage nods. 

What have you done, Mayu?

* * *

To be continued.


	2. A Smile Goes a Long Way

Hey guys! Welcome to my channel. My name is Mayu and I’m going on a date for the first time in over sixteen years.

No.

You know what? It’s not a date, okay?

The thing with dating in this day and age is, I assume it’s the same in the shinobi world as any other, that it’s not official unless both parties agree as such. 

Gaara inviting or agreeing to take me to dinner is even more vague than a guy texting me “you up?” in the middle of the day. The most logical explanation for him to take me to dinner is, obviously, thanking me for those garnet earrings I gave him.

These are the thoughts racing through my head as I sit inside the ramen restaurant. I wanted to bail last minute, but Kohana came by and got me dressed up for dinner. She seemed more excited about this than I am. 

She put me in a long, flowy, silk caftan dress. It belonged to her late mother. I initially refused to wear it, but once she slipped it over my head, I couldn’t help myself. It’s been a while since my body has felt such a luxurious fabric. I even got a little excited and put on some of my own jewelry. 

But now that I’m sitting inside the restaurant, my head is filled with regret. 

I don’t even know why I need to dress up to eat ramen. A splash of _tonkotsu_ broth and the silk is done for! I suggested ramen at that so that it would seem less like a date. But in hindsight, if Gaara is technically the highest ranked ninja of the village _and_ the son of the previous Kazekage, he should have a lot of money and I should have suggested something fancier.

“I’m sorry for being late.”

I snap out of my thoughts at Gaara’s voice. He’s already standing across the table. I get up immediately and bow; am I supposed to pull his chair for him in this situation? Or are ladies still first in a ninja world? 

“Don’t worry about it, Lord Kazekage,” I smile up at him in my bowing state, feeling awkward about what to do next. 

Gaara pulls his own chair and motions for me to sit back down. “Please, you do not need to bow to me. And you do not need to call me Kazekage all the time.”

I sit back in my chair, but my head is still lowered. It’s strange, because I don’t typically get nervous in front of men. I’ve met all kinds through Tinder. But this guy is literally the leader of a whole village, so he’s already in a completely different league. Better yet, he's the leader of the village _I live in._ It's like what people say, "Don't shit where you eat," and that's definitely hitting me hard now.

It also doesn’t help that he’s so… stoic. 

I finally peer up at him and he’s looking at me quietly. The awkwardness instantly multiplies. Is he not even going to compliment my dress? I guess it’s up to me to make the conversation.

“So… how’s the new job going?” I ask when the waitress sets down two cups of water at our table. Oh good! I’m feeling thirsty.

Gaara doesn’t answer my question right away, but finally says as he casts his eyes downward, “I’m not sure if my father’s old subordinates respect me the way they respected my father.”

I nearly choke on the water that I just sipped. I didn’t expect him to be so… honest on our first date. Wait, no, this is not a date! But we’re acquaintances at best and he’s being really open about his worries. Okay, I do find that kind of… endearing. 

“That’s probably because you’re so young,” I offer a smile of encouragement. Many adolescents from my past life had self esteem issues—me included—so I’m pretty used to cheering people up. “Just do your best and they’ll notice your hard work and dedication in no time!”

The boy looks back into my eyes. When he stares, he _really stares_. Maybe that’s why his subordinates are uncomfortable with him. 

“You’re just as kind as before, Mayu-san.”

Was that a smile just now or am I dehydrated again? I swear, sixteen years in this desert and I’m still not used to the dryness. Also, the way he just said my name… can a guy be awkward, shy, and cute at the same time? I must really be dehydrated. 

And I’m a little bit flattered too. Embarrassed, but flattered. I’ve been called lots of things: stylish, pretty, materialistic, flirty, but not kind.

I grab the cup of water in front of me and gulp down the entire thing, hoping to wash down this strangely sweet feeling. I won’t deny that I like the way my name sounded coming out of his mouth.

Oh, come on, Mayu! You’re better than this!

“Um, so you keep saying that you’ve met me before, but I don’t really remember meeting you,” I switch the topic to something that I’ve been thinking about. “When exactly did we meet?”

“I was about four years old,” says Gaara.

“So I was around five, and that was the year when I left the orphanage…” My words trail off as I begin to search my memories. I remember a lot of things as a young child, because of my adult consciousness, but I still don’t remember meeting this guy. Unless…

“By a very small chance, I had a high fever for a few days that year, and my memory around those days are very blurry,” I recall the days of intense pain all those years ago. I really don’t remember much from those days. I probably could have died of that fever if it weren’t for Granny. 

“I see…” Gaara nods. 

His facial expression is unreadable. I try to lean a little closer, but the waitress comes back to take our order. 

The rest of the date went as well as it could between a nobody and a Kage. I asked most of the questions, such as his siblings, Temari and Kankuro, whom I met yesterday. Then he asked me about my family, so I told him my story as an orphan and getting adopted by Granny, which he was a little surprised about. 

To my surprise, Gaara is not a bad conversation partner, despite him being pretty quiet. I feel that the things he said were honest and he actually listened well. That’s rare for guys. 

As the waitress takes away our empty bowls, Gaara stands up as well to pay the bill at the counter. I start to feel awkward again. It really has been too long since I dated; I’m not really sure how this should end. So I stand up as well and slowly move toward him so that we could leave as quickly as possible.

“Um, thank you, Lord Kazekage!” I bend at the waist to bow at him, but he stops me halfway.

“Please, just call me Gaara,” he says with his intense stare. I can feel myself burn up. He looks so… expectant. 

“Ga… G… Gaaa....” 

My throat feels dry again, even after all that water and soup that I drank. The intensity of his stare is unchanged, and I think I might be having cold sweats. I shut my eyes to avoid getting another fever. 

“Ga… Gaara!!” 

I end up having to shout to get his whole name out. Some heads inside the restaurant turn toward us, but Gaara seems not to notice.

I look around us nervously, feeling like some bodyguard shinobi hiding in the shadows are about to jump out and slice my head off with a sword for being rude. Gaara takes a few seconds to decide that that was acceptable. Nodding a goodbye, he made his way to the exit. 

“Um, Ga-Gaara!” Great, I’m going to stutter his name forever, aren’t I? Oh well, what was I going to say to him?

“Do your best at work!”

Gaara turns around with slightly parted lips. Oh crap, did I speak out of turn again? An awkward silence passes between us for the last time. 

“Will do, Mayu-san,” Gaara says before turning away. 

My heart pounds a little faster than before. This time I am sure that he smiled at me, albeit very faintly. I really didn’t expect this, but I find it kind of cute.

* * *

As I walk home, I begin to search my memories of when I might have met Gaara. He’d brought it up twice already, so it must have been important to him. However, nothing comes to mind no matter how hard I dig through my brain. Maybe I should ask Granny about it, since she’d adopted me around that time and she has a pretty good memory for such an old lady. 

Granny and I live in the northernmost edge of the village, which is also the furthest from the village’s center and the least inhabited area of the village. Granny likes the peace and quiet, and while I don’t prefer lugging my products such a long way to the shopping street, I can’t really complain about having a free place to live. 

The last mile stretch before Granny’s house is usually quiet at night, but something is different this time. Up on the hill surrounding Granny’s house is a swarm of people making a ruckus. 

Did something happen to Granny? She is pretty damned old. 

I pick up my place. As I approach the crowd, they are knocking on the door and asking Granny to open up. There is no way that I could squeeze through, so I tap on one of the girls closest to me. She turns around with a notepad and a pen in her hands. 

“Excuse me, what’s going on?” I ask.

“It’s her!” the girl gasps and all of a sudden, I’m surrounded by the crowd. Some have notepads and pens like the girl I tapped, and some have cameras and recording devices. 

“Who are you and what is your relationship with Lord Kazekage?” the girl asks me while sticking a recording pen in my face.

“Who am _I?”_ I try to push the pen out of my face, but more and more people are starting shoving things toward me. “Who are all of you? I’m trying to get home!”

Just when I thought I might somehow get kidnapped by this mob, a force pulls me by the wrist and knocks open a path to the front door. The door opens just in time for me to fall in and closes as soon as the last of my hair is in the house.

The force releases me, and I fall on my butt. I’m not unfamiliar to the force that grabbed me. It’s chakra thread used in the famous Puppet Technique of the Sand. In front of me stands an old and wrinkly woman whose face contorted with anger.

Oh no, Granny Chiyo is pissed.

“What have you done, Mayu?!” she barks.

That sounds oddly familiar.

“Nothing! I don’t even know who they are!” I retort. 

“Are you blind? They’re reporters!” Granny Chiyo points at some of the cameramen still trying to get footage from the window. “Where were you today?”

“I... had dinner with a friend?”

“Who? Kohana?”

“...No,” I manage to whisper. Granny Chiyo must already know what's going on, but she’s too angry to get to the point. 

“Is it our new Kazekage—Lord Gaara?”

I bite my lip, and that’s answer enough for Granny Chiyo.

“You idiot!” Granny Chiyo yells as she smacks me in the back of my head. “I told you time after time that I want nothing to do with Sunagakure affairs! And here you go asking out the Kazekage?!”

Um.

Excuse me.

_He_ asked _me_ out!

Wait, that’s not the point!

“He just wanted to thank me for my earrings and I was trying to be nice!”

“Nice?! How about trying to be nice to the woman who adopted you?!” Granny’s eyes are so wide open that I can see circles of blood vessels threatening to pop. “Bah! After I told you not to go near him again!”

“Wha—you never told me… Was this eleven years ago?” 

Granny purses her lips and narrows her eyes at me.

“Yeah, after you had that bad fever!” 

* * *

To be continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why I am so giddy writing this (≧▽≦)  
> Thank you all for reading, commenting, giving kudos, bookmarking, etc! I did not expect the response!  
> Next chap: the first meeting of Gaara and Mayu!


	3. Kill Them with Kindness

Gaara had just turned four years old. Yashamaru didn’t always allow him to roam around the village, but since it was his birthday, Yashamaru agreed to accompany him to the village square for the evening.

Months ago, when he was last allowed outside the confines of his home, Gaara had seen a girl in the village square enjoying a chocolate ice cream cone. Granted, it was an extremely hot day that day, but the girl made the ice cream look really delicious. Gaara was determined to eat an ice cream cone for his birthday.

As promised, Yashamaru took Gaara to the village square that evening. The evening time in the desert was especially cold, and even more so in January. Not many villagers were out and about during this time. Gaara didn’t have to ask to know why Yashamaru decided to bring him out during this time. Yet, he couldn’t be angry. It was for the good of the villagers and him.

Gaara led Yashamaru to the convenience store where he saw the girl before. It puzzled Yashamaru that Gaara wanted a cheap ice cream cone for his birthday, but at least he could make the trip quickly and take Gaara back home.

“Wait here,” Yashamaru sat Gaara down on a bench outside of the convenience store. “I’ll get the ice cream for you.”

Gaara nodded, and Yashamaru disappeared through the sliding doors. The evening wind gushed loudly. To any others, eating ice cream in this weather would be an absurd idea. But Gaara didn’t care.

Suddenly, Gaara heard footsteps coming towards him from across the square. He looked up to see a child around his age approaching the convenience store. His eyes widened slightly when he realized that it was the girl eating the ice cream cone before. 

There was no mistake. Gaara remembered the red marks she had on her cheeks. Currently, she was all bundled up and getting closer at a fast pace. Little white puffs exited her mouth with every breath.

“It’s you,” Gaara heard himself say.

The girl halted just before she entered the store. Her orange hair bounced as her head whirled towards him. She blinked at him a few times before responding.

“Do I know you?” she asked while scrutinizing his face.

“N-no,” Gaara stammered. 

“...Okay?” She was about to walk into the store before turning back to him once more. “Are you by yourself? Is everything okay?” 

Gaara was at a loss of words. The villagers usually tried their hardest not to look at or talk to him, let alone ask if he was okay. She was also not breaking eye contact with him at all. Not even Kankuro or Temari could look at him for that long.

Seeing that Gaara was not answering her, the girl stepped closer to him. 

“Are you lost? Your parents must be worried. Let’s go inside and borrow the phone…”

Gaara panicked when the girl reached a quick hand toward his. But before he could tell her to stop, the tailed beast inside him beat him to it.

A scream left the girl’s mouth as she took a step back. Then, the world fell silent to Gaara. His dilated pupils followed the curve of crimson blood splashing out from the back of her hand. Her eyes squeezed shut from the pain, and she couldn’t see more malicious sand whipping toward her. 

Just before the sand reached her, someone had taken her and leapt away to a safe distance. It was Yashamaru. When he turned around to look at Gaara, his eyes were mixed with disappointment and anger. Two things that Gaara often felt toward himself, including this moment.

“Gaara-sama, what were you—I just left you for five minutes and—” Yashamaru rambled as he approached Gaara, clearly distraught by Gaara’s action.

“Wait!” 

Yashamaru was shocked when he looked down to see the girl grabbing part of his cloak with her unharmed hand. Blood was still dripping from her other hand, but she didn’t seem to care.

“Don’t yell at him,” she said. “It’s not his fault. I shouldn’t have tried to grab him without asking and I must have frightened him. My friends have been telling me for years that I’m too touchy-feely toward everyone…”

Yashamaru raised an eyebrow at the girl. She didn’t look much older than Gaara; what did she mean her friends had been telling her “for years?”

Whether the girl felt like it was Gaara’s fault or not, Yashamaru didn’t think that she could understand how dangerous Gaara was. If Yashamaru hadn’t come out of the store in time, she could have died.

“No, you don’t understand, he shouldn’t have—”

“He didn’t mean to hurt me,” the girl pointed her bloody hand at Gaara, and Yashamaru’s gaze followed her finger.

“He’s already crying,” she whispered. 

Yashamaru widened his eyes. Not just at the large droplets of tears falling from Gaara’s eyes, but also at the subtle reprimanding tone of the girl’s voice. 

The girl stepped toward Gaara again, but didn’t get too close this time. 

“Sorry for scary you,” she said with a smile.

“Your… hand…” Gaara said between sobs.

“Don’t worry! My granny has lots of ointments that’ll heal this easily!” the girl reassured him. “I’d better go. And by the way, if your dad yells at you later, remember it’s not your fault!” 

The girl went back toward the store, but before she stepped through the door, she turned back toward Gaara. 

“Hey, where did you get the waterproof eyeliner?” 

Gaara’s tears were still gushing from his eyes, but he was confused by the girl’s question. He wanted to ask her what an eyeliner was, but his sobbing was turning into hiccups. At the same time, the cashier inside the store yelled at the girl to keep the door closed since it was so cold outside. The girl quickly told Gaara to tell her next time, and went into the store. 

Yashamaru took Gaara home after that. Gaara couldn’t ask Yashamaru what an eyeliner was, because he seemed to be still mad about what happened earlier. Gaara decided to try asking Temari or Kankuro. Next time, he’d tell the girl about the eyeliner. And next time, he’d tell her that he wasn’t scared of her. 

If anything, he didn’t want her to be scared of him. 

What Gaara didn’t know about that day was that when the girl went home to treat her wounds, she had mistakenly picked up an ointment that contained the only plant in the world that she was deadly allergic to. Granny Chiyo found her just in time to treat her, but she still had a high fever for a few days. And after those few days, she had completely forgotten about the whole incident. 

* * *

About last night, I was saved from getting my hair pulled out by Granny Chiyo when Grandpa Ebizo stepped in and calmed his sister. Before she started to give me the cold shoulder, she told me briefly about what happened eleven years ago.

I had gone into town for some lotion and had gotten hurt. When I came back home, I went into Granny’s medicine cabinets without asking and put some ointment on myself. I was extremely allergic to an ingredient in that ointment and that was what caused the worst fever of my life. When Granny Chiyo found me, she asked me what happened, but at that point my head was burning so badly that I could barely form words. 

She looked at my wounds and assumed that it was Gaara’s doing by all the sand mixed in with the blood on my sleeve. 

When I asked her last night why Gaara would attack me, a mere child, she said:

“How the hell should I know?!”

And she went to bed.

I tried to remember what I even went into town for, but I just can’t. Although it makes sense that the wound was on my hand. My friends always said that I’m too touchy-feely. And considering how nice Gaara’s skin is, maybe I tried to cop a feel.

Oh god, did I try to molest Gaara as a child? 

Anyway, now is not the time to dwell in the past. There’s a more pressing situation in front of me.

The one and only bookstore in the village had magazines where I’m on the cover page on full display right outside!

Before I moved to Los Angeles, I was just a regular high school girl living in Minnesota. Ever since then, I’ve always wanted to be popular. I wanted to be best dressed, best smile, friendliest, funniest of my class every year. I wanted to be homecoming and prom queen. 

In the shinobi world, being popular is a different thing. It means that you’re really good at killing people and consequently, a lot of people want to kill you. Take Granny Chiyo for example. I heard that she’s the village’s one master of poison and controlling killer puppets. No one has managed to kill her yet, but someone did manage to kill her son. It’s a tragedy and we don’t talk about it. 

And now, here I am, staring at stacks and stacks of  _ Sunapolitan  _ with me on the covers. Even during my past life, when I had over 300 thousand followers on Instagram, I was never popular enough to land on the cover of a magazine. Not that this is something to be happy about.

A couple of twenty-something ladies passes by the bookstore and sees the magazine cover. One of them points to me and whispers to her friend’s ear. They begin to look me up and down, probably trying to see what’s so special about me, because the headline says this:

“Local Gold Digger Seduces Young Kazekage Day After Inauguration”

First of all,  _ Gold digger?!  _

Sure, I’m in need of money, and I  _ did _ kind of think about letting Gaara pay for fancier food, but still! It’s not like I said that out loud! And why “Local?” As if “Gold Digger” doesn’t sound poor enough?

Second of all,  _ Seduces?!  _

I am literally slurping noodles in that unflattering photo of me! And that photo doesn’t even show Gaara’s face, how would anyone know that’s him? I mean, sure, no one else in this town brings a giant gourd with them everywhere, and I did shout his name, but still!

This is outrageous. 

I stomp into the bookstore like a dignified citizen of Sunagakure, and slam a copy of the magazine down at the cashier. 

“It’s 750 yen,” says the cashier lady after a quick glance at the magazine.

“I don’t want to buy this garbage! I want these off the shelves!” I demand the woman.

“Well, they’ve been flying off the shelves since this morning. They’ll be sold out by this evening, so just wait.”

“You know what I mean!” I raise my voice in anger. 

The cashier lady finally turns and looks at me with a raised eyebrow. Then she looks down at the magazine cover, and from the look in her eyes, she’s definitely making the connection.

“Listen,  _ young lady, _ ” she sneers at me. “Just because you’re…  _ friends _ with the Kazekage, that doesn’t mean you can tell me what to do! Plus, the Kage family did nothing good for the civilians of Sunagakure. I’ve been barely making enough to make ends meet with this bookstore for years! It’s only fair that I’m making money from the new Kazekage’s scandal!”

I don’t even know what to be more mad about at this point. Yes, I know that we’re not that wealthy of a village compared to our neighbors, but nothing is going to change if you’re just going to complain about the Kage family! 

Just like how I’m not going to slander the Kazekage just to turn my reputation around!

“Hey, give the guy a chance!” I say firmly. “He’s just getting started!”

The cashier seems to be surprised by me saying that. She contemplates quietly for a while, then shakes her head.

“Those shinobi leaders don’t care about civilian struggles. It’s always been this way even before the Fifth was chosen. Their main concern has always been military power. The school focuses on combat training over anything else! There is no demand for books here!”

“So tell them! Let your voice be heard!” I urge the woman in front of me, whose expression toward me turns more bizarre. “I’m sure Ga—Lord Fifth will do his best to help!”

This time, the cashier laughs at me. I’m a little taken back, but I stand my ground. My reputation can’t get any worse than it is now.

“Your Lord Fifth won’t do anything to help!” She says provocatively. “Have you forgotten how much of a senseless killing machine he was? He might be a bit quieter now, but I’m sure he doesn’t have anything new on his agenda!”

My chest becomes heavy and it’s hard to breathe. I don’t know why, but I feel bad for Gaara. Sure, I don’t know everything about him, but he just doesn’t seem to be that cruel of a guy.

And as someone who’s been reincarnated, I kind of have to believe in second chances. 

“I’ll talk to him,” I finally say to the cashier. “And when he does help, I want you to put my ads up in your store for free!”

The cashier laughs again and tells me to do what I want, and she shooes me out of her store. Clearly, she doesn’t believe me. As I walk out of the store, I see more and more people gathering outside, picking up copies of the magazine.

I seem to have forgotten the reason I went there during the heat of the argument. Well, there’s something more important for me to do now.

I can’t do anything about those magazines now except for damage control, so I’m going to help that bookstore and Gaara. Advocating for the needy had always been one of my main objectives for my past social media platforms. Some people said that it was for shallow reasons, but I just let them say what they want.

What’s so wrong about helping people so that they’d like you? At least it feels good doing it! 

I turn at my heels with determination in my steps. Yes, I have no shortage of determination. Even if I don’t know where the Kazekage works, I have determination.

Even if I don’t know how to get a meeting with the Kazekage, I have determination.

Even if there’s a hundred shinobi guarding the Kazekage, I have…

Ugh, what are you gonna do, Mayu?

* * *

  
To be continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometime in the future...
> 
> Mayu: *Barges into Gaara’s office* Look, Gaara! I’m on the cover of this month’s Sunapolitan!  
> Gaara: Is it another scandal?  
> Mayu: No! I got voted “Sexiest Woman of the Year!”  
> Gaara: ...  
> Mayu: ...  
> Gaara: Temari, Kankuro, we’re shutting down the bookstore.


	4. Think Twice Before You Speak

The first person I can think of to ask about where to find the Kazekage is Granny Chiyo, but since she’s still mad at me for possibly exposing her to more Sunagakure affairs, I’m not even going to try. I don’t know what she has against Sunagakure affairs or what that even means, but I know that Granny Chiyo can make my life hell if she wants to. 

So instead, I went to Kohana’s workshop to ask for her help. Kohana’s workshop is right next to my little general store, which is closed today. I call it a general store, but it’s mostly my fake dietary supplements with the recent addition of handmade jewelry. In time, I’ll get rid of the pharmaceuticals and rename the store Mayu’s Fashion Oasis. 

I knock on the door of Kohana’s workshop and wave at her through the window. Kohana, who’s currently working on some clay pot, sees me and immediately runs over to let me in. The word “gossip” is pretty much flashing in her eyes. 

“Mayu, you lucky little skank!” Kohana squeals as she pulls me into the store. She sits me down at a couch and plops down next to me. “Tell me everything about your date!”

“It wasn’t a date!” I correct her. “We just had a nice dinner and a friendly chat.”

“Don’t lie to me!” Kohana says and pulls out a copy of  _ Sunapolitan _ from out of nowhere. “I can see it in your eyes in this picture! You’re totally in love!”

“Why did you buy this garbage magazine?!” 

“You have a subscription for this, Mayu!”

“Okay, I do, but I’m  _ not  _ in love!” I take the  _ Sunapolitan _ from Kohana’s hands and stuff it under the couch cushion. “It was good ramen, all right? You know I love carbs.” 

Kohana narrows her eyes at me, clearly not believing a word I say. I let out a sigh; I almost got deterred again from my current mission. 

“This is actually the reason I’m here. Do you know where to find the Kazekage? I need to ask him something.”

“A second date?” Kohana wiggles her brows at me suggestively. 

“No!” I raise my voice in exasperation. “I’m trying to help the bookstore and the Kazekage and me all at the same time!”

“Wow~ all that on your day off, huh?” 

“Yeah, I’m starting to regret it, too.”

“Let me guess, the bookstore owner said something bad about you or Lord Kazekage?” Kohana looks at me with knowing eyes. 

“Both, actually,” I admit to her. “I got a little triggered and reacted too soon.”

“Typical Mayu,” Kohana giggles. “You just can’t stand it when other people don’t like you.”

That girl knows me a little too well.

It turns out that the Kazekage’s office is at the top floor of the Shinobi Station, which is smack dab in the middle of the village. It’s the large building that had the  _ kanji _ for “wind” painted on the outside. Kohana couldn’t believe that I really didn’t know that that was the Shinobi Station. I thought that it was just a landmark this whole time, like the Eiffel Tower or Statue of Liberty or something. 

That certainly makes things easier for me. I get up from Kohana’s couch and set out on my journey to Gaara's office. 

I have actually never traveled so far into the inner village my entire life here. I have mostly stayed in the outer parts where all of the shopping streets are located. Now that I’m here, I can see that the closer I am to the village center, the more shinobi are walking around. There aren’t many businesses around besides some restaurants and stores that sell shinobi tools and gears. In a similar fashion, people look more and more menacing as I get closer to the center.

It’s not that I’m scared of ninjas or anything, but why do they have to look like that when they’re supposed to be the protectors of the village? When I travel outside of the village, people from other villages seem so much livelier than the ones here. 

One day, when I make it big, I’m going to move out of here. I’ve made it out of Minnesota to California on my own, and I can do it again. I heard that a village called Konoha is a nice place to live. 

“You, stop right there!”

A crisp voice calls out to me, and that’s when I realize that I’m already about the cross over the gates leading to the Shinobi Station. I look over my left shoulder to see a young shinobi walking toward me. 

The Sand’s standard shinobi uniform consisted of a simple black shirt and pants, a padded vest with shoulder protectors and high collars in the most unforgivably dull beige color, open-toed boots for no good reason, and, get this, a turban with an attached headband with an attached metal plate with our village’s symbol engraved in it. I wouldn’t be caught dead in that attire. 

I mean, it’s a damned shame, even for a military uniform. I really pray that my vintage Ralph Lauren military jacket went into good hands after whoever cleans out my apartment. 

Although her image is somewhat soiled by her outfit, the young kunoichi actually looks quite pretty, with long and curly eyelashes to go with her big eyes. Ignoring the purple markings on her cheeks, she is quite possibly the prettiest shinobi I have met, besides Gaara’s sister. Maybe I need to take back what I said about ninjas looking menacing. 

“What are you doing here? This is not a place for civilians,” she says. 

“I’m here for business,” I reply out of habit. Seeing her raised eyebrow, I quickly add, “With Lord Kazekage.”

The shinobi widens her eyes at my statement, and lo and behold, that menacing look takes over her face. Apparently, I was not supposed to say what I said. My heart pounds nervously when the shinobi reaches behind her for something, and I’m guessing it’s going to be a kunai. I immediately raise my arms over my head in an attempt to surrender.

But she pulls out another freaking copy of  _ Sunapolitan _ , hidden inside her vest. 

“You’re the local gold digger!” the shinobi exclaims, pointing her finger at me on the cover. 

I can see my reflection in the metal plate on her turban, and my face is twisted like some evil stepmother in a fairytale. I can feel my common sense leaving me and being replaced by white rage.

“Who are you calling a  _ local _ gold digger?!” 

Wait, I think I put an emphasis on the wrong word there. Oh well.

The kunoichi looks closer at her copy of the magazine as if to confirm her suspicion. She then points at my cheek. “It is you! You have the same cheek markings!”

“Oh, you want to talk about cheek markings?!” my wild fingers reach up and pinches the girl’s cheeks, pulling them wide. Damn, her skin is nice, too!

Shock and embarrassment flash through her eyes. She probably didn’t expect a civilian to put hands on her, but it’s humiliating nonetheless. Her hands come up between my arms and she backhandedly swats at my forearms. I let go of her cheeks immediately and hold a painful yelp behind my lips. I’m not going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she hurt me! 

“What’s going on over here?”

Both of us turn toward the steps beyond the front gate, where Tamari is descending and looking at us questioningly. The heavy-handed girl straightens her back at the sight of one of the Sand Siblings. 

“Temari-sama!” she greets the blonde with that crisp voice again. “This civilian is trying to get into the station to see Lord Kazekage.”

Temari looks at me and by her change in expression, I can see that she recognises me. She walks toward me and looks at me up and down. Still a little mad about what the other girl said earlier, I look Temari up and down too. I guess only the Kage family are allowed to wear nicer outfits. 

“This isn’t a place for civilians,” Temari says. “Did you make plans with Gaara again? He’s very busy, you know?”

“Yes!” I lie without skipping a beat. “I have an appointment with him!”

Temari raises an eyebrow at me, but doesn’t question it. She motions for me to follow inside. I’m not sure why she believed me so easily, but I’m not going to complain.

As Temari and I barely take three steps toward the stairs, and the kunoichi clears her throat. We look back at her.

“Um, Temari-sama, here’s the magazine you asked me to fetch for you,” the kunoichi says in a low voice and hands the  _ Sunapolitan  _ to Temari. The latter instantly blushes when she realizes that I can hear and see the whole thing.

“Maki! Can you be more discreet?” Temari snatches the magazine from the kunoichi and walks away quickly. 

Alas, even a high class ninja can’t help but stick their nose into gossip. 

As if trying to avoid my knowing eyes, Temari makes sure that she’s walking in front of me the entire time while we make our way to the top of the spherical building. Though I’m a civilian, I’ve been trained at least a little by Granny, so I can technically keep up with her. Nonetheless, I’ll save her some face by staying behind her as a thank you for letting me inside a prohibited area.

At the highest floor of the spherical building is only one office, which belongs to the Kazekage. I can hear a voice beyond the large doors that have the words “wind” and “shadow” painted on each panel. It’s a deep and gruffy voice; it definitely doesn’t belong to Gaara, but it does sound more like how a Kazekage is supposed to sound like. 

Temari knocks on the door twice, and the voice stops briefly. 

“It’s me,” Temari says. 

“Come in.” This time, it’s Gaara’s cool voice that comes through the door. I feel nervous all of a sudden, just like at our dinner. I have no idea how he’s going to react to my request. What is even my request? Have him make a law that requires ninjas to read more books? Mayu, why don’t you ever think first?

Before I’m ready, Temari pushes the door open. She walks in first and holds the door open for me, but I’m too nervous to go in. She looks back at me and raises an eyebrow. 

“Who’s that?” the gruffy voice asks. 

I peek over Temari’s shoulder and boy, does the man with the deep voice look exactly like how he sounds. Now that’s what a high ranking shinobi is supposed to look like! Sharp eyes, squared jaws, huge build, and a turban on his head with one end of the cloth covering half of his face, which I assume is to hide some nasty battle scar from another ninja who was equally menacing. 

Does that look like a guy who reads? Not even with two good eyes, I’m telling you. 

“Mayu-san?” Gaara spots me shifting behind Temari and calls me out. “Please, come inside.”

“Um, hey, Gaara!” I bend at the waist to enter partially into the room and wave at Gaara as casually as I can. Perhaps a little too casual since now both of Temari’s eyebrows are up and the big one-eyed guy is scowling at me.

“How dare you address the Kazekage that way!” he barked at me.

“It’s okay, Baki,” Gaara put up a stopping hand at the big guy, and suddenly I’m feeling much better about myself. That’s right, I have an in with the Kazekage! “She is a civilian and might not understand the rules of shinobi.”

“Lord Gaara, this is a simple matter of respect for authority!” Baki softens his tone when he says to Gaara. “Also, this is no place for a civilian.”

“I’m here to voice a citizens’ concern!” I stomp into the middle of the room now that my confidence is back. 

“Lord Gaara is very busy!” Baki snaps at me again. 

“Baki, Temari, may we have some privacy,” Gaara says, causing Baki and Temari to open their eyes wide in shock. Even I’m a little shocked. That wasn’t a questioning tone; I’m getting a little bit of goosebumps. 

Baki and Temari don’t say another word before leaving the room, but Baki gives me a disapproving look when he passes me. I would glare back at him, but I’m suddenly nervous again at the thought of being alone with Gaara. 

Damn, why aren’t there any seats in this room besides Gaara’s?

“What is your concern, Mayu-san?” Gaara asks when the door clicks shut. 

“Um, well, it’s not actually that big of a deal,” I can feel my cheeks heating up as I think of what to say. Gaara’s intense stare doesn’t help at all. “The bookstore is struggling with their sales. I heard that the ninja school here is focused on combat training, and other civilians are too busy running businesses to be buying books.”

Gaara’s eyes open slightly wider than usual. “I didn’t know that. I never went to school here…”

“Oh, me too!” I say quickly to reassure Gaara. “I was thinking on the way over here that maybe you could introduce new courses into the school, then the bookstore would be able to sell more textbooks.”

“New courses?” Gaara repeats my words with confusion. 

“Yeah, like Math? Science? Social Studies?” I list subjects that I can remember in my past life being taught in elementary school. I don’t even know why ninjas would need math. “Or, you know, Arts and Crafts? Granny Chiyo always complains that the killer puppets—I mean, the Puppet Technique, is becoming a lost art.”

Gaara puts his hand to his lips in contemplation. “I see… I can imagine asking someone to teach the Puppet Technique in the higher classes. However, I don’t know about the others.”

Gaara looks at me again right in the eyes, making me jump a little bit, as if asking me to solve his problem. Come on, I already gave you suggestions! But I guess you ninjas wouldn’t know about normal schools, would you?

It’s my turn to rub my chin in thought. The two of us remain quiet for a while, and it unnerves me a bit when finally an idea hits me.

“What if you get teachers to move here from the Land of Wind?” I suggest. “All of the civilians here came from the Land of Wind at some point, right? I know that they’re mostly businesses that support the works of a ninja, but think about it, if civilians work as teachers here, they won’t need to take missions during school breaks, and will have time for leisure reading! That’s a boost in textbook  _ and _ regular book sales!”

Gaara widens his eyes again. “I see… it makes sense. We would just need to bring this to the Wind Daimyo.”

“Great!” I break into a smile; it’s actually a little exciting now that we might be able to change something! 

“I just happened to be going to the capital in a few days to meet with the Daimyo for some other business,” Gaara says to me, and I might be imagining it, but he sounds a bit excited too. “I want you to come with me, Mayu-san.” 

...Huh?

“...Huh?”

“Your idea was great, and it would be better coming from you.”

“...Oh, Gaara! You are too modest!” I laugh nervously. “You’d do great on your own!”

“I will reimburse you for the work you miss,” Gaara continues as if he didn’t hear what I said. “The capital is a ways away from Sunagakure. Please be prepared for an overnight trip.”

_ Excuse me? _

An overnight trip with Gaara to the city? No, no, no, no, no! Does he even know what he’s asking me after  _ just one date?  _ I mean, I’m not a prude or anything, but going on a trip after one date is a big deal! 

Hold on, that  _ wasn’t a date _ !

...Which makes it even worse?!

“N-no, Gaara!” I raise my voice in panic. “That’s moving a little too fast for me!”

“Too fast?” Gaara seems taken back by my words. He thinks for a moment, and seems to realize something. “Forgive my thoughtlessness. I’ll arrange a camel for your transportation since you are not a shinobi…”

“That’s not what I meant!” I say a little exasperatedly. “I just can’t go on this trip with you, Gaara!”

Gaara frowns very slightly and looks down at his desk. “Was I too forceful with you?”

The look on Gaara’s face makes my heart ache like some big hand is squeezing it from the inside. He seems to be filled with guilt and he’s just like a little animal, scared to be yelled at. I want to comfort him, but I don’t quite know what to say.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I got a little too eager about helping civilians.” 

He just wants to help. The civilians have doubts about him, but he just wants to help. He’s trying his best and I could help him!

“Okay, Gaara, I’ll go with you.”

Gaara’s head shoots up as he looks at me with surprise. I can’t help but smile at him. 

Oh, who could say no to that cute face?

“Oh, who could say no to that cute face?”

...Oh, crap!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never said this is going to be slow burn. Hehe.


	5. Uphold Your Principles

“Excuse me, are you still selling those Miracle Pills?”

I look up from the register at the man who just entered my shop. I recognize him and his beer belly; he’s the guy that bought my stuff during Gaara’s Inauguration. Is he here to complain about the pill not helping his beer belly, which evidently is still standing strong like Everest? I put aside the issue of  _ Sunapolitan _ that I’d been reading and greet the man with a harmless smile. 

“Hello, sir, how are you doing? We’re all out of the Miracle Pills right now.”

The man’s brows furrows in disappointment. 

“Oh, too bad, my wife and I both liked them a lot,” he says, unexpectedly to me. 

“I’m glad to hear that,” I let loose a small sigh of relief. 

“It didn’t exactly get rid of my belly, but I guess that’s to be expected from my drinking and eating habits,” the man laughs dryly while scratching the back of his head. “But it did make me feel refreshed and energetic, especially when I take them before eating.”

Well, of course! Those pills are made with green tea leaves, ginger, and magical ninja herbs of the finest quality from the village’s best greenhouse (entry courtesy of Granny Chiyo), all ground by hand by yours truly! Even though I did exaggerate its effects, the ingredients themselves are still good for the body!

But for the guy to blame himself for the Miracle Pill not helping him lose weight is actually really kind of him. I kind of feel a little bad. 

“Will they be restocked tomorrow?” the man asks. 

“Unfortunately, the store will be closed for the next two days since I am traveling to the capital for business,” I point to a sign posted on the window. “I’ll be sure to restock when I’m back! Meanwhile, please take this as a gift for your wife!”

From one of the drawers behind the register, I take out a little burlap pouch tightened with twine drawstrings. A sweet aroma emits from the pouch as soon as I pull it from the drawer. 

“I call it BeauTea,” I tell the man with a wink. “This tea is packed with antioxidants, vitamin C, and tons of other good stuff that will help your wife look 10 years younger if she drinks it everyday!”

Oops, another exaggeration. It’s just tea made with dehydrated blueberries and aloe, but hey, at least I’m giving it for free!

“You are too kind, miss, uh…”

“Mayu,” I grin at the man. 

“Thank you, Mayu-san,” the man smiles back at me. “My name’s Takahashi. I’ll be back in three days.”

“Thank you for your support!” 

I wave at Mr. Takahashi as he leaves my shop. As the door closes, my hand drops to a notebook laying open on my desk. With a soft sigh, I take a pen and jot down the inventory I just gave away and a number zero next to it. At the bottom of the page, I sum up my profits for the end of the week. The total number is pretty saddening. 

That’s okay, Mayu. You need to establish a good relationship with your customers first. You’ll get there. 

You have a bigger problem ahead of you—packing.

I have no idea what kind of person the Wind Daimyo is and I have never met anyone of royalty in either of my lifetimes. I need to pack some of my best clothes if I’m going to meet literally the most important person in the Land of Wind. Not to mention the stories I’ve heard about the women living in the capital. If I can get even just a few of those rich ladies to notice my style, I might be able to sell them something at a good price!   
  


With that thought in mind, I throw what little handmade jewelry and accessories I have on hand into my bag, and begin to close up shop.

* * *

“Mayu-san, what is all of that?”

Breathing heavily with a huge backpack almost half my height on my back, I wave hello to Gaara, who’s waiting for me with his arms crossed at the heavily gated entrance of Sunagakure. Gaara’s eyes my luggage with curiosity, which I’m quite used to. I am not at all a light traveler. Last night, I packed ten different outfits for this overnight trip and all of the accessories I have for good measure. 

I don’t think that I should be judged here. I mean, look at Gaara, always carrying that big gourd on his back. And where is his luggage? Don’t tell me he keeps his pajamas and boxers in that gourd. 

Why am I thinking about his boxers?

“I really should have arranged those camels,” Gaara approaches me as he unfolds his arms. He almost seems like he’s going to take my backpack, but I step away quickly, and he freezes in place. 

“Don’t worry, Gaara! I told you that Granny trained me a little bit!” I smile reassuringly at him. But the weight coming down on my shoulders makes me kind of regret what I said to him in his office the other day. 

_. _

_. _

_ “Oh, who could say no to that cute face?” _

_ “What did you say?” _

_ “Huh? Er, nothing?” _

_ “No, you said something,” Gaara insisted as he stared into my eyes. “Something about saying no…” _

_ “Oh, that, um,” I stammered, trying not to let my heart jump out from my throat. “I was gonna say no to the camels! I know I don’t look it, heh, but Granny Chiyo trained me a little bit. I can keep up with you!” _

_ Gaara seemed surprised by what I said, but nodded at my statement. “If Granny Chiyo’s your master, then I’m not worried.”  _

_ Another save, Mayu. Well done. _

.

.

Gaara doesn’t come toward me any closer and merely nods. I sense a bit of unpleasant feelings from him, but I’m not sure why. Maybe he doesn’t like going to the capital. Or maybe I’m just imagining things. It’s not like he smiles very much. 

The guards at the gate look at me and Gaara with gossipy looks. I swear, this is like high school all over again. Gaara, on the other hand, doesn’t even look at the guards at all, and gestures for me to follow him. 

Next minute, we’re both running across sand dunes. And I realize, I really exaggerated when I said that I could keep up with Gaara. 

The thing with running on sand is that each step requires chakra control, or else your foot will just sink in. And the thing with using chakra to run is that it’s twice as tiring as normal running, and I’ve done a marathon before. 

Whereas Gaara is practically one with the sand, I’m still losing control every few steps. Okay, I’ll admit that I haven’t practiced chakra control in more than a year, but I honestly didn’t think that I’d need this skill in real life. Granny Chiyo would scold me so hard if she’s watching me now. 

She’d tell me that concentration is key and if I always let my mind wander, one day it’ll be my downfall.

“Fu—!!”

My right foot suddenly sinks shin-deep into the sand as I lose control. I can’t even finish cursing before eating a mouthful of sand after tumbling face-down. Sandwiched between the hot sand and my overweight luggage, I really might suffocate to death. 

Gaara! Please notice me!

“Mayu-san, are you all right?” 

I hear Gaara’s muffled voice from above me. If I could nod my head, I would, but my face is pretty much stuck. Oh, I hate sand. Even when I lived in L.A., I didn’t go to the beach unless it was for a swimwear photoshoot. 

“Don’t panic, Mayu-san.”

The dense, hard sand around me starts to move. It starts to ripple gently, supporting me and lifting me up in the air. I prop myself up by the hands to see that a layer of sand separated from the ground, carrying me up. I look to Gaara, and his hand is raised as if he’s controlling the sand.

“Wow, Gaara, are you doing this?” I wiggle lightly in my seated position. The sand feels like a soft cushion. “This is amazing!”

Gaara nods without saying a word, but I can see the corner of his lips twitch upward slightly. 

DId I almost get a smile out of him? Come on, don’t be shy!

“Maybe we should travel this way the rest of the way,” says Gaara. 

Agreed!

I scoot over to the side of the sand cushion and pat the space next to me. I mean, I can’t be the only one riding this thing while the  _ Kazekage _ pulls me like a mule. Gaara, on the other hand, seems to be hesitating. 

“Come on, Gaara, I don’t bite!” 

Gaara’s face looks even more confused now, but eventually, he leaps up and sits next to me. 

With Gaara’s steering, the flight to the capital is actually enjoyable now. From high up, the sand dunes actually look beautiful and majestic. I can’t help but sigh in awe at the scenery. 

Hold on a second. This feels oddly reminiscent. There’s a song playing in the back of my head about a whole new world, and sitting next to me, there is a… prince?

I turn to look at Gaara. His face is stony as usual while he controls the sand beneath us. Okay, he’s no Aladdin, but much more like a prince. 

It’s funnier each time I think about this. Ever since my reincarnation, I’ve never really thought about dating or love in general. Though my memories of the past become hazier each year, sometimes it still takes a second to sink in—that this is my world now and it is real. This is a world where I can still fall in love and find happiness. 

And to think that it took one weird non-date with Gaara for me to realize it. 

“ _ I’m like a shooting star… I’ve come so far…” _ I start to sing a little under my breath. This seems to grab Gaara’s attention. 

“What is that?” he asks. 

“A song from my childhood.”

“I mean, what language is that?” Gaara asks again.

“Um, I don’t know,” I shrug, eyes shifting to and from Gaara. “I was  _ really, really young _ when I heard it.”

Realization flashed across Gaara’s eyes. “Did your mother sing it to you when you were a baby?”

“Uh… yeah, that must be it!”

“Do you miss your mother?” 

I look at Gaara again, and this time, he’s looking away. That question kind of came out of left field. The guy needs to work on his flirting.

“I don’t know,” I say softly. “I’ve never met her.” 

Gaara eyes meet mine. I bet they would look so much prettier if he smiled. 

“I’ve never met mine either.”

* * *

The sand carpet ride took about half an hour to reach the capital. When we finally arrived, Gaara was breathing heavily. Evidently, that took a lot more chakra than he’d let on. I feel pretty bad about overestimating myself and letting Gaara, a Kazekage, do the heavy lifting. 

“I’m sorry, Gaara,” I say to him while we make our way through the busy streets of the city. 

“What for?” Gaara asks. Okay, I get it. It’s one of those things where guys have to act tough to save face. I won’t blow your cover!

“Let’s just find an inn quickly so we can both rest!” 

Gaara nods. “Yes, we have an important morning tomorrow.”

Traveling in the world of shinobi without the internet is a huge hassle. You can’t book your hotel early so you leave everything up to chance. I never thought that finding an inn would be so much trouble, but as we visit every inn that we come across, everything seems to be full. 

I’m getting more and more frustrated as the inns keep turning us away. The search for rooms takes nearly the entire day with no prevail. There goes my shopping time! And the city is nice, but I’m not about to sleep on the streets! 

Gaara seems to be calm as always. It’s as if he doesn’t care where we sleep tonight, when in fact, he should be the one that cares a lot! He’s the one with money over here!

“What the hell is the problem with the inns in this city?!” I slam my hands on the counter and yell at the eighth inn owner who’s telling me that there is no vacancy in his inn. 

“Mayu-san, please, your language,” Gaara says from behind me. 

“You guys picked a bad time to come to the capital,” the inn owner flattens his hands at me. “The Daimyo’s baby sister, Princess Ashina, is having a birthday celebration this weekend. People from all over the Land of Wind have come to give Princess Ashina their best wishes.”

“Can’t they just send a card?” I grumble as Gaara leads me away. 

“There’s one inn left that’s down the street,” says Gaara reassuringly, but to me it sounds more like a death sentence. 

We arrive at the oldest, dingiest looking inn in the entire city. Surely, this place can’t be completely booked? 

Gaara takes the lead this time as we enter the inn. An old, round lady who’s on the verge of sleep perks up at the creaking of the door. She greets us with a kind smile, “Hello, young ones. How may I help you?”

“Do you have any rooms available tonight?” Gaara asks politely. 

“You guys came just in time,” the old lady says as she flips open a wooden box, and takes out one single key. “We have just one last room!”

“We’ll take it.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I rush to the counter while waving my arms like a madwoman. “We  _ will not!” _

“We won’t?” Gaara looks at me puzzledly. 

Obviously! What kind of a dignified woman am I if I were to sleep in the same room with a guy that I only went on one date with? What will people think? And I’m  _ so _ disappointed in Gaara for thinking that this is okay! What’s wrong with him?!

“Look, lady!” I whirl towards the old lady, who seems surprised by my sudden outburst. “Yes, I look pretty and cute, but I am _not_ some loose chick! I have my principles! I want two rooms, you hear me?”

The old lady narrows her eyes at me, her smile dissipates from her face. “We have a storage closet if you want. Why don’t you two work this out on your own and wake me up from my nap when you decide?” 

The woman huffs and walks into the back room, leaving just me and Gaara in the lobby. 

“Mayu-san, is something wrong?” Gaara asks with a small frown. “What was that about chicken running loose?”

“Gaara, I don’t know what you shinobi think about the relationship between boys and girls, but it’s not appropriate for two single people to stay in the same room like this,” I tell him exasperatedly. 

Gaara thinks for a second, and says, “Temari usually wants her own room when we leave Suna.”

“So you get it, right?”

Gaara nods. “I’ll stay in the storage closet.”

“What?! Wait, you’re not serious?” 

“We don’t have any other choice,” Gaara points out to me matter-of-factly. Now I feel even worse from exhausting him with the transportation here and forcing him to stay inside a storage closet. 

Maybe such a selfless guy isn’t even thinking about taking advantage of me. I really don’t think he’s that type of guy. Besides, who’s going to talk? The  _ Sunapolitan  _ can’t follow us all the way out here. 

“I can’t let the Kazekage stay in the storage closet! We’ll stay in the same room,” I tell Gaara, and he opens his mouth to say something, but I stop him with my pointer finger pointed at his nose. “But! Listen to this and listen closely…”

Gaara shuts his mouth. 

“This doesn’t mean that we’re anything,” I say to him in my most threatening tone. “We are  _ just friends _ and  _ that’s it,  _ okay?”

Gaara opens his mouth again, and this time his eyes wide too. 

  
  


“...We’re… friends?” 

  
  


Gaara mutters while staring at me wide-eyed. What’s with him? He looks like he’s about to cry. Oh no, did I just friendzone him?

“Um… yeah… for now!” I mean, I don’t want to shut down the possibility of us becoming anything altogether. He’s been like, really nice to me. And, well, I don’t want him to dislike me.

And there it is again, the twitching lip.

“Thank you.”

* * *

Oh, thank  _ kamisama _ that the room has two beds! 

Although the outside of the inn looks old and dingy, it’s actually not so bad inside. It’s minimalistic with nice oak furniture and clean sheets. 

And the bath… oh, the bath. I don’t really want to think about bath time. Or wearing my pajamas in front of Gaara. Even though they’re long sleeves and pants, it still feels too intimate. And weirdly enough, I feel like I’d be offended if Gaara doesn’t at least sneak a few looks at me while I’m in my pj’s, you know? 

Ugh, Mayu, why are you like this?

“Um, Gaara…”

“I have some business to attend to,” Gaara suddenly says by the door. 

“O-oh?” 

“Please, get some rest.”

With that, Gaara leaves the room. I let go of a breath I’ve been holding. Great! This worked out perfectly! I can take a long bath comfortably and have dinner by myself!

Without a second thought, I run into the bathroom and turn on the water, squeezing in half a bottle of soap to make myself a bubble bath. Now, this is more like a vacation! Well, it’s more like a business trip, but still. All expenses paid! 

I take the longest bath I’ve taken since starting my own business. Then I go downstairs to the inn’s own restaurant for a nice dinner. And then I jump into bed after changing into my pale blue pajamas. I just now realize how tired I am after the long day, though I really shouldn’t complain because Gaara did all the work. 

Speaking of Gaara, where is he?

He left with his gourd, does that mean it’s something dangerous? No, but he brought the gourd to our date too. 

I open the window and stick my head out to try to see the familiar redhead and big gourd. Silly me, he’s not going to show up just because I’m thinking about him. 

Plopping back down on my bed, my mind goes blank for a second. Weirdly enough, I was stressing out about spending the night with Gaara, but now that he’s not even here, I feel a little… lonely. 

_ “I’m like a shooting star… I’ve come so far… I can’t go back to where I used to be…”  _

My eyelids feel heavy as I sing to myself. I must be really tired. 

Gaara must be… really tired. 

.

.

I blink open my eyes slowly from a chill on my shoulder. I look over to the window that is now open. And there he is, Gaara sitting by the windowsill, looking outside. He’s out of his usual outfit and in a set of a simple black shirt and pants. And for the first time, he isn’t carrying a gourd. 

Subconsciously, I take a deep breath. No smell of blood. Unless he’s washed it off. 

“Gaara, you’re back.”

He looks over at me, a little surprised to see me awake. 

“Aren’t you tired?” I ask. 

“I’m fine,” he says in a hushed voice. “Please, go back to—”

“Trouble sleeping?” I sit up on the bed all the way. “Try counting sheep.”

Gaara shakes his head. “I’m fine. I’m used to it.”

“That’s not a good thing,” I frown. “Do you stay up often? You know, even young people need enough sleep to stay healthy.”

“I can’t sleep,” Gaara looks down at his hands.

“Why not?”

Gaara looks at me for a long time. It seems like he’s trying to decide whether or not to tell me. And by the look in his eyes, it’s something that causes him pain. Maybe I asked too much. Curse my nosy head and big mouth. 

“I… used to have insomnia as a kid,” Gaara says slowly. “I just… got used to it.”

That’s not the whole story. But who am I to pry?

“I know!” I jump out of the bed and run over to the windowsill along with the sheets in my arms. Gaara watches me with surprise as I sit down across from him with a grin. “I’ll sing you a lullaby!”

“...What?”

“Just close your eyes!” I put the sheets over Gaara. “Don’t worry, my friends used to say I have such terrible, monotonous singing that’ll put you right to sleep!”

Gaara seems hesitant, but closes his eyes as I told him to. I clear my throat dramatically and smile even though he cannot see me. He’s so childlike and innocent right now that I momentarily forget that he’s the Kazekage. 

_ “Twinkle, twinkle, little star…” _

I repeat the song over and over, and my voice softens each time. Gaara keeps his eyes closed, and his breathing light. I can’t exactly tell if he’s fallen asleep or not, but I’m getting sleepy for sure. My head nods heavily at the end of each line and my vision blurs. 

Gaara’s eyes are still closed. I should probably move him to a bed...

Yeah… I should...

Should… move… 

Gaara...

* * *

To be continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -A few moments later-  
> Mayu: *sleep talks* Gaara...  
> Gaara: ...Is she having a nightmare?  
> Shukaku: You fool! Now is your chance!  
> Gaara: Shukaku, I told you I'm done with meaningless killing.   
> Shukaku: smfh
> 
> How much cheesier can I make this fic?! Hope you all enjoyed this one! Happy holidays everyone and I'll see you next chapter!


	6. Dress for Success

I wake up with bleary eyes to the sight of Gaara standing by my bed. The sunlight shines through the window behind him and creates a soft glow all around him. His lips start to move once he sees that I’ve opened my eyes. 

“...up, Mayu…”

I slowly blink at him; his voice sounds distant, even though my gaze is locked onto the movement of his lips. My heart starts beating a little faster. Is this really happening to me? I feel like I’m the lead in a romance novel. The quiet and mysterious Kazekage takes an interest in a common villager and quickly falls in love with her beauty. 

Gaara, seeing as I didn’t quite hear him, leans down a little closer. And I, in daze, close my eyes again and draw my chin upwards. I open my mouth slightly like an invitation for him to kiss me. 

Something hard and cold presses against my bottom lip. Then, a hot, bitter liquid slips through the opening of my mouth, scorching my tongue and teeth. 

“What the hell?!” I jerk upwards with a scream. Gaara, with his fast reflexes, backs away so I don’t knock anything over.

“Are you all right, Mayu-san?” Gaara asks with a mug in his hands. “Did you prefer milk and sugar?”

I now realize that Gaara was trying to feed me coffee. I’m not sure whether I feel more embarrassed by the fact that I thought he was going to kiss me or angry that he tried to pour hot coffee down my throat. I narrow my eyes to scrutinize him; he looks completely innocent. For some reason, it’s actually very believable that he mistook my gesture as me asking for coffee.

“No, Gaara, I just… I could have drank the coffee on my own,” I cough, the inside of my mouth stinging a little.

Gaara sets the coffee mug on the nightstand besides my bed. “We need to leave in thirty minutes.” 

“What?!” I swivel my head towards the clock on the wall and my eyes almost pop out of their socket. I overslept! How am I supposed to get ready in only thirty minutes?!

“What’s wrong…”

“No time to talk, Gaara!” I dash into the bathroom before he could finish his question and slam the door shut. And thus begins the Amazing Race between a high maintenance girl and time itself. 

* * *

I made it. I actually made it!

The time crunch actually really helped me make my outfit decisions for today. In order to make my accessories shine, I went with a somewhat plain outfit of black skin-tight crop top with a scoop neck cut (and layered a few necklaces on top), and black palazzo pants (adorned with chain belts), and of course, bangles and rings. 

I look like a girl who has VIP access to Coachella. And though the people here wouldn’t get that reference, the way they turn their heads at me certainly confirms my opinion. 

“Mayu-san, you seem to be in a good mood,” Gaara says to me as we walk along the main street of the capital, heading for the palace. 

“Today’s already shaping up to be a great day, Gaara,” I nod back at him. 

Gaara seems to be infected by my cheerfulness and copies my nod. “Indeed, we are going to make great changes for our villagers.”

That almost makes it sound like we’re the king and queen of Sunagakure. Well, I certainly look the part today, that’s for sure!

In a matter of minutes, we arrive at the palace gates. The guards instantly recognize Gaara and let us both in without question. As we pass through the gates, I give one of the young guards a sweet smile as I thank him and his cheek turns pink. This further inflates my ego as I start walking with my chest held even higher as well as my chin. 

However, what follows is a bout of giggles from the flower garden besides the palace. There are a group of palace women sitting in the midst of all the flowers. They seem to be having a picnic. Needless to say, the young girls are giggling at Gaara. 

I feel slightly annoyed at this, but then the woman sitting in the center of the young girls catches my eyes. She just might be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in this life! She has porcelain skin and feline eyes with lashes so long that I can see them clearly from several feet away. Her hair is long and dark; so dark that it has a violet sheen under the sun. And she is dressed in the most beautiful and intricately embroidered kimono. 

I’m not sure if she’s looking at me or at Gaara. Her gaze certainly expresses some kind of interest, but I can’t tell whether she’s smiling or not since she is covering the bottom half of her face with a fan. It’s clear to me that she is of a high status, and the other girls are probably her ladies in waiting. 

“That’s Princess Ashina,” says Gaara suddenly. 

“Huh?” I turn my head toward him and see that he’s looking at the beautiful woman. 

“Princess Ashina,” Gaara says again, now looking at me. “You were staring at her.”

Oh, like  _ you weren’t? _

I guess guys will be guys. All they like are pretty women. I just would have thought that Gaara would be more attracted to younger girls. That princess looks to be twenty at least! Oh wait, I am also older than Gaara. And technically a lot older than Princess Ashina, if you must argue that I died at age 26 in my past life. Plus my current 16 years of age, I should have a mental age of 42. 

How can I still be so petty, you ask? Well, you try dying single and unaccomplished and having only some popular social media accounts to show for!

“A little old to be called  _ princess, _ ” I scoff. If my breath had a taste, it would be salty. 

“She is called princess because she is the Daimyo’s sister and she is not yet married,” Gaara corrects me. 

Oh,  _ of course _ you’d know she’s not married!

“Oh,  _ of course _ you’d know she’s not married!” 

Gaara blinks at me a few times. “It would be on every newspaper if she did.”

Ugh, Mayu, get it together. Jealousy makes an ugly woman, like your mom used to say! Hold on, why am I even jealous? Gaara and I are  _ friends. _

I shake the weird feelings away right before we enter through the palace doors. I can’t let myself get distracted right before the biggest meeting of my life! And you know what? Gaara can like whoever he likes! If she’s a hot, sexy cougar, then so be it!

Behind the palace doors is a long walkway, which ended with a large seat with the kanji for ‘wind’ embroidered in the back cushion. The seat is so large that it makes the above-average sized Daimyo look a bit small. I have only heard about what the Daimyo looks like, and I always thought that he was going to be some big, respectable looking man, but he kind of looks like several large, soft  _ mochi _ stacked together. 

The Daimyo greets Gaara with some meaningless small talk and completely ignores me, which I’m slightly thankful for. However, with Gaara, the exchange of small talk doesn’t last very long. The topic immediately moves on to the state of Sunagakure. 

“I’m quite impressed by how well things have been going since you stepped in as Kazekage,” the Daimyo addresses Gaara. “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from you since you’re only fifteen. But thanks to you and your siblings, our relationship with the Land of Fire has gradually improved.”

“Thank you, Your Highness,” says Gaara without an ounce of emotion showing. 

“And how many new shinobi have we got since last month’s school graduation?” 

“Nine, Your Highness.”

A pudgy frown emerges between the Daimyo’s forehead. “Only nine? I heard that the Land of Earth produced twenty-four genin last year. Are you sure you aren’t being too hard on the kids?”

“Iwagakure is much larger in size and population,” Gaara says calmly. “I do not think it is wise to lower the standards just because we are in peaceful times. We have not yet located those who assassinated my father, and a group of dangerous rogue ninja is on the rise.”

“Well, how will we compete with the Earth?” 

“Instead of focusing on our competition, we should focus on ourselves,” Gaara suddenly looks at me, which startles me a little. “Which is why I’ve asked one of our own villagers, Mayu-san, to share an idea I found interesting with you.”

“Oh? Mayu, you say?” The Daimyo finally looks at me and even leans forward from his seat. My throat instantly dries up. “What’s your lineage? Your shinobi rank?”

“Uhm… Ahem…” a breathy, throaty sound comes out of my mouth instead of an answer, and my face starts to burn. 

“Mayu-san is not officially a shinobi,” Gaara quickly answers for me. “She is currently under the tutelage of Elder Chiyo.” 

The Daimyo’s eyes light up at the mention of Granny Chiyo’s name. Nice one, Gaara! Much better than me saying that I’m an orphan!

“So what’s your idea, child?” the Daimyo smiles at me. 

“Your Highness,” Gosh, it feels so weird to say that. I feel like I’m in a fantasy movie or something. “The ninja school in Sunagakure could use a little change in curriculum…”

I tell the exact same thing I told Gaara to the Daimyo. His interest level drops almost instantly after I suggested more scholarly subjects to be taught in school. He even blatantly yawns when I start to list examples of literature and science. I guess one that’s one thing I don’t miss from my old world, the lack of government support in education. 

“What do shinobi need all that studying for?” the Daimyo asks curtly. “Just train the body and learn the Ninjutsu.”

I can’t help but frown at this point. “With all due respect, Your Highness, shinobi are humans, not weapons to be built and polished. I know that it sounds naive coming from a civilian who has never experienced war or battle. But from a business standpoint, can’t a smart ninja be better than a strong ninja?”

“What do you mean?” the Daimyo blinks at me. 

“Maybe they’d be more resourceful, strategic, and creative. Maybe they’d work more efficiently, build better tools, invent new ninja powers or whatever… you know, where I’m from, knowledge is power!” 

Okay, I know I’m just winging it now, but I can’t stop myself. I open my arms wide to give myself the look of confidence; sometimes what you’re selling is really yourself! 

“My country is founded on an idea! An idea is what catapults a nation to great heights! The sky's the limit! Let knowledge be the guide that takes our country to greatness!”

“Mayu-san…” Gaara stares at me with wide eyes.

“Uh… I don’t really get what you just said, but I feel touched for some reason,” the Daimyo says while looking at me with similar wide eyes. “I mean, I’m all for stuff that makes the Land of Wind a great country.”

Holy crap! I can’t believe that worked! 

“I’m glad that you see my point, Your Highness,” I grin from ear to ear. “We will just need your help enlisting teachers who would be willing to relocate to our village!”

“That’s no issue to me,” the Daimyo returned a grin to me. “Let’s talk details, Kazekage.”

I turn my head to face Gaara, unable to hide my excitement. Gaara, still staring at me, moves the corner of his lips slightly and nods. Oh my god, that’s a smile. That has to be a smile! And I don’t know if it’s the excitement getting to me, but looking at Gaara and his gentle smile is making my heart pump faster. 

I really feel like I just did something great. 

The Daimyo and Gaara talk about the details of sending teachers to Sunagakure and other village businesses over the next hour. They discuss things like forming an alliance with Konohagakure, but I’m still too thrilled with myself to really listen. This even beats that time when I got over 90k views on my GRWM video on YouTube! 

The meeting with the Wind Daimyo ends amicably with the promise of new teachers moving to Suna two weeks before the new school year. Gaara and I leave the palace triumphantly, but just before we cross the outer gates, someone calls from behind us. 

“Wait!”

Gaara and I look back at the source of the deep, feminine voice. My smile drops in an instant when I realize it’s the princess that was staring at us earlier from the garden. Now that she’s standing up and walking toward us, I am even more amazed at her. I don’t want to say it, but she is damn hot! The way she saunters as if she owns every inch of ground she steps on, and the way she looks at us from above with her eyelids relaxed is so mysterious and alluring. Yes, from above. Stopping in front of Gaara, I can tell that she’s at least 5’10” and she’s even taller than Gaara. 

She is super model material! 

“Good to see you again, Kazekage-sama,” she smiles wickedly at Gaara, standing just an arm’s length away from him. Me? She’s completely ignoring me.

“Likewise,” Gaara says without a single sign of emotion. 

“Are you leaving the capitol already?” the princess asks with a fake sigh of disappointment. Don’t ask me how I can tell it’s fake. “I would have loved it if you stayed through my birthday celebration.” 

“A Kage must not leave his village for longer than necessary.” 

Yes! Gaara, reject the beautiful princess! 

“That’s too bad,” Princess Ashina sighs again, although her smile never left her perfectly plump, red lips. “Well, will you give me an early birthday present?”

I gasp so hard that my spit gets clogged in my throat, and I almost have to cough, but I have to hold it in so I can double check that I’m really seeing what I’m seeing. Princess Ashina reaches out her slender and smooth index finger and puts it under Gaara’s chin. She lightly pushes his face upwards, and then places her thumb over his chin, tilting his face a little to the side. Then she lowers her face towards him. 

Gaara! No! Why are you so calm?! Why am I freaking out?!

“Take your slimy hand off Gaara!” I shout at the top of my lungs.

Both of their gazes shoot towards me at my outburst. The princess raises her eyebrow at me, but doesn’t seem offended or angry. 

“Slimy hand?” She repeats my elementary insult. “Gaara? Who are you, his lover?”

This time I really choke on my spit and have to cough continuously for a whole minute. Gaara steps towards me and asks me if I’m all right. I’ve got tears coming out of my eyes from the violent coughing, but I’m still able to glare at the princess. I straighten my back after my coughing ceased, and I shove a surprised Gaara to the side. 

“I’m his… associate,” I declare weakly with a sore throat. “I’ll protect him from your harassment!”

“Harassment?” Princess Ashina repeats again. “I simply wanted to take a closer look at his earrings. The garnet studs are simple and elegant. Precious stones are hard to come by in the Land of Wind.”

My mind goes blank as I realize that she’s talking about the earrings I gave Gaara. 

“You… what…?” I blink my wide eyes at the princess. 

“I’d like a pair like that to go with the kimono I’ve chosen to wear on my birthday. It’s dark purple with dahlias of red and black.”

First of all, that sounds freaking beautiful. Second of all, oh my god, I misunderstood everything!

“Mayu-san here made the earrings,” Gaara says suddenly. 

“Really?” Princess Ashina opens her eyes in disbelief. “I would not have thought someone who dresses in such low class style could make tasteful jewelry.”

...I don’t know if I should feel attacked or complimented.

Okay, I’ll admit that I made the wrong style choice today. Festival style is not suited for the palace. 

“If you really are the maker of this fine jewelry,” Princess Ashina finally smiles at me, “Then I want a pair of my own in two days. Name your price.”

My heart is about to jump out of my chest. I can’t believe that  _ the princess _ of the Land of Wind wants to buy my jewelry! Thank goodness I still have exactly two garnet stones in stock. But now comes the price. I gave three free studs to Gaara as a gesture of goodwill, so I have not actually sold any jewelry. Now, she is royalty, so she should be able to afford it even if I triple the cost of my materials. 

However, I did call her slimy just a minute ago, and I feel sort of bad about it. 

“How about…” I avert my eyes from Princess Ashina to lessen the guilty feelings, and just barely whisper my price, “Four thousand  _ ryo _ ?”

Without even missing a beat, Princess Ashina turns back toward one of her ladies in waiting and reaches out an open palm. The young girl hands the princess a nice little pouch that seems to be stuffed full. Princess Ashina then hands the pouch to me without even looking at the contents inside. 

“This shall suffice,” says the princess. 

Regardless of how rude it looks, I open the pouch just to see if there is enough money. Who am I kidding? The pouch is filled with cash, probably well over my asking price. 

“Do you always carry this much money with you at all times?” I ask without thinking. 

“Not a lot; just some chump change,” the princess smiles at me again. 

Okay, I still don’t like her. 

“When I like something, I get it right away,” Princess Ashina continues, ignoring my probably judgemental look. “You never know if somebody will take it first.” 

Something in Princess Ashina’s smile changes as she slows down at the end of her speech. She looks from me to Gaara with a somewhat meaningful look, then takes her leave. I look over at Gaara; a weird feeling emerges in my stomach after hearing Princess Ashina’s parting words. I’m not sure why, but I feel a little bit threatened. 

I don’t understand; Gaara is just a friend. Sure, I fantasize about him and I being together sometimes, but there’s nothing more. I mean, yes, I am fond of Gaara. He is nice to me and cute in a unique way, and this whole trip has been kind of fun, but he is the Kazekage. So if anything, the princess is better suited for him. Ugh, where am I even going with this?

I follow Gaara out of the palace gates, through the main street, and past the walls of the capitol. I didn’t speak the entire time and just stared at the back of Gaara’s head. He didn’t say anything to me either. I wonder what he’s thinking?

Is he fond of me too? Even just a little? What I’m sure of is that I am actually hoping that he is. 

“Um… Gaara?” I call out to him, and he turns toward me. 

A vast desert is beyond us. If the silence continues for our whole journey back, it will probably drive me crazy. But why do I feel like it’s hard to talk to him now? 

“Is something wrong, Mayu-san?” Gaara asks. 

I feel my face grow warm, and for some reason, I feel too embarrassed to look him in the eyes. Maybe because I’ve been thinking about him to myself this whole time. I look down at my feet and softly kick the sand in front of my toes. 

“You know, you can just call me Mayu,” I tell him cheekily. “We’re friends after all.”

Gaara’s shoulders twitch for just a split second before he mumbles, “Understood.” He then creates a sand carpet like he did on our way here and leaps on top of it. Before I attempt to leap up there as well, he extends his hand out to me. 

“Let’s go, Mayu.”

There’s the weird feeling in my stomach again, just when I put my hand in his. As I take my seat on the sand carpet after he pulls me up, I press my hands to my stomach. 

Come on, Mayu, get a hold of yourself. Just focus on the work you have ahead of you. 

After all, it’s one thing to lose a follower, and another to ruin a nice friendship.

* * *

To be continued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enters love rival #1. Kind of. Hehe. 
> 
> I'm planning on slowly bringing in stuff about Mayu's pasts into play, both previous and current lives! But I'm wondering if anyone can tell already what Mayu's personality is like? She's very much a people-pleaser, and I hope it's clear that she goes out of her way to help people so that she would be liked, though inherently she is happy to help people. She just doesn't realize it sometimes ;)
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter! See you at the next one <3


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